Bone Weathering in a Periglacial Environment: The Tayara Site (KbFk-7), Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik (Canada)
Bone weathering analysis of the Palaeoeskimo Tayara site (Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik, Canada) documents site taphonomy in the Arctic periglacial environment. Like a majority of sites in the eastern Canadian Arctic, Tayara has a faunal assemblage dominated by marine mammals (seal, walrus, and beluga wh...
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2009
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic9 http://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/9/9 |
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crarcticinstna:10.14430/arctic9 2024-06-09T07:42:06+00:00 Bone Weathering in a Periglacial Environment: The Tayara Site (KbFk-7), Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik (Canada) Todisco, Dominique Monchot, Hervé 2009 http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic9 http://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/9/9 unknown The Arctic Institute of North America ARCTIC volume 61, issue 1, page 87 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 journal-article 2009 crarcticinstna https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic9 2024-05-14T12:53:42Z Bone weathering analysis of the Palaeoeskimo Tayara site (Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik, Canada) documents site taphonomy in the Arctic periglacial environment. Like a majority of sites in the eastern Canadian Arctic, Tayara has a faunal assemblage dominated by marine mammals (seal, walrus, and beluga whale) and some terrestrial mammals (caribou, fox, and bear). Statistical and spatial analyses of five weathering stages reveal that large mammal bone preservation is generally good and does not seem to be influenced by taxonomic and skeletal differences. The good preservation of the faunal assemblage seems to have been favored by the burial of bones and their incorporation into the active layer, which suggests only limited mechanical deterioration (i.e., freeze-thaw or wet-dry cycles, or both) before or at the time of burial. Burial depth partly explains the degree of bone weathering. Indeed, the well-preserved bones are found mainly where burial is associated with thicker overlying sediments. This implies rapid bone burial with a low degree of exposure to temperature changes and atmospheric processes. However, analysis also shows the presence of highly weathered bones where burial is associated with thicker overlying sediments. Consequently, differential bone depth probably does not explain all bone-weathering variability within the site. These results show the importance of examining bone weathering before any archaeozoological and paleoethnographic interpretations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Nunavik walrus* Arctic Institute of North America Arctic Canada Nunavik Qikirtaq Island ENVELOPE(-105.785,-105.785,68.918,68.918) ARCTIC 61 1 87 |
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Open Polar |
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Arctic Institute of North America |
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crarcticinstna |
language |
unknown |
description |
Bone weathering analysis of the Palaeoeskimo Tayara site (Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik, Canada) documents site taphonomy in the Arctic periglacial environment. Like a majority of sites in the eastern Canadian Arctic, Tayara has a faunal assemblage dominated by marine mammals (seal, walrus, and beluga whale) and some terrestrial mammals (caribou, fox, and bear). Statistical and spatial analyses of five weathering stages reveal that large mammal bone preservation is generally good and does not seem to be influenced by taxonomic and skeletal differences. The good preservation of the faunal assemblage seems to have been favored by the burial of bones and their incorporation into the active layer, which suggests only limited mechanical deterioration (i.e., freeze-thaw or wet-dry cycles, or both) before or at the time of burial. Burial depth partly explains the degree of bone weathering. Indeed, the well-preserved bones are found mainly where burial is associated with thicker overlying sediments. This implies rapid bone burial with a low degree of exposure to temperature changes and atmospheric processes. However, analysis also shows the presence of highly weathered bones where burial is associated with thicker overlying sediments. Consequently, differential bone depth probably does not explain all bone-weathering variability within the site. These results show the importance of examining bone weathering before any archaeozoological and paleoethnographic interpretations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Todisco, Dominique Monchot, Hervé |
spellingShingle |
Todisco, Dominique Monchot, Hervé Bone Weathering in a Periglacial Environment: The Tayara Site (KbFk-7), Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik (Canada) |
author_facet |
Todisco, Dominique Monchot, Hervé |
author_sort |
Todisco, Dominique |
title |
Bone Weathering in a Periglacial Environment: The Tayara Site (KbFk-7), Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik (Canada) |
title_short |
Bone Weathering in a Periglacial Environment: The Tayara Site (KbFk-7), Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik (Canada) |
title_full |
Bone Weathering in a Periglacial Environment: The Tayara Site (KbFk-7), Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik (Canada) |
title_fullStr |
Bone Weathering in a Periglacial Environment: The Tayara Site (KbFk-7), Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik (Canada) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bone Weathering in a Periglacial Environment: The Tayara Site (KbFk-7), Qikirtaq Island, Nunavik (Canada) |
title_sort |
bone weathering in a periglacial environment: the tayara site (kbfk-7), qikirtaq island, nunavik (canada) |
publisher |
The Arctic Institute of North America |
publishDate |
2009 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic9 http://arctic.journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/arctic/index.php/arctic/article/viewFile/9/9 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-105.785,-105.785,68.918,68.918) |
geographic |
Arctic Canada Nunavik Qikirtaq Island |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canada Nunavik Qikirtaq Island |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Nunavik walrus* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Beluga Beluga whale Beluga* Nunavik walrus* |
op_source |
ARCTIC volume 61, issue 1, page 87 ISSN 1923-1245 0004-0843 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.14430/arctic9 |
container_title |
ARCTIC |
container_volume |
61 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
87 |
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1801371011687383040 |